Wedding Day
by AliceTheBob
Summary: Kankuro goes through the stresses of getting married... to someone he's never met!
1. Chapter 1

So. This is my first fan fic in a long time. But any way here is the explanation with Gaara's "cheezy" personality: I was playing of his personality from the later manga. After Naruto taught him that "bonds" with other people are worth having... Bear with me ;)

I don't own any of these characters except for Emmalie :)

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I might have backed out if her father weren't such a heavy weight. He was a legendary fighter even in the sand country. He was dark skinned with muscles that he practically wore as clothing. I could only imagine what I was getting stuck with. Stuck with because of stupid politics. Stuck because I had a obligation to my country. Gaara came to talk, which I appreciated. Obligation or not, marriage was a big deal.

He stood behind me with his arms crossed. He seemed more collected then ever wile I was trying not to sweat all over my new robe. I wiped my sticky hands on my stupid fancy ceremonial pants and our eyes met in the mirror.

"You can still change your mind. They need this alliance more then we do." He said. I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't make me do something I didn't want to do. But I also knew he was lying.

"No… This war we're in can't be won without their help." He knew our situation. Our two star military against the Rock village's four star wasn't a risk our village could take after everything from the past years.

My marriage was supposed to be the symbol of Suna and The Village Hidden in The Clouds marrying in an unbreakable alliance… or some shit like that. Its funny because if we were against the cloud village, military size wouldn't compare to technique. Wind could easily counter their electric attacks. Thats where their end of the deal came in. Their unpopularity among the other villages helped their desperation too. The Raikage married all of his daughters off to different villages to rebuild burnt bridges.

"And face it… its not like this was ever going to happen without the help of a war alliance anyway." I laughed, then choked. My throat had been dry all morning.

"I… need some water." I stood up and turned toward the door.

"I thought the Raikage sent his servants to take care of you." Gaara said, following behind.

"Yeah. I told them to beat it. I don't need anyone to take care of me. I just needed time alone…" I took a deep breath and rubbed my eyes, hoping that somehow I could shake the vision of wedding decorations from my sight. "Its not like anyone from the wedding is going to be back here…" I breathed as workers placed scarlet and cream decorations along the walls as we walked passed.

Gaara grasped my shoulder firmly. "Kankuro. This bond will do more good then you know now… If you look on any side, look on the side where you will have someone connected to you forever; not just that this is a part of politics."

My heart began colliding against my chest again nervously.

"A marriage 'bond' is only as good as the two people's bond with _each other_. They don't just agree to being married and live happily ever after." I ran my hand through my mournfully messy hair and tried to stop myself from confessing what was on the tip of my tong. "What if… she doesn't…"

She will love you in time and you will love her. We have a bond to everyone around us. Its up to you to make it a good one. Remember what I said about the bond as Kazekage with my village? The hard work is ultimately worth it."

I remembered the conversation. It had been a year before he was abducted by aketsuki. He had been stuck on this "bond" kick for years now, and it seemed to work for the better; though I preferred the scary Gaara better at times like this.

I smirked sarcastically. "Jeeze… Way to make this way cornier then it had to be, Gaara. I never said anything about love…" Never said it, but I did think about it. I didn't expect this wedding day to spark love at first sight, and I didn't think that a blind political wedding was the right tune for any sort of love in later years. But Gaara was right; a bond is as good as we make it. I just needed to get my ass into "bonding" mode.

Gaara smiled slightly. "I need to go back to the Razekage. I told him I needed to check on the groom, and I have." He stopped and we embraced. "You have the tendency to see the worst in things. Like I said, look on the good side of this and don't worry. Just wait to meet her and then decide if being a pessimist is worth all of your worrying."


	2. Chapter 2

I only had two hours left before I had to be at the marriage alter. I spent a half hour trying to look on the "bright side" before my mind started going over what my new "wife" would be like and became discouraged again. I had spent a long time wondering since the marriage agreement was made. This might be shallow but if I was going to be tied to something I might as well have been tied to something _pretty_. The natural dark skin of the cloud village's people might have made my bride exotic, but there are many light people too. The other of Raikage's daughters had been varied so I had nothing to compare to. If she wasn't good looking I could maybe survive, but what if she was hot? I wasn't much of a looker. If i was I would have had a girl a long time before, I figured. She would be the beautiful chick that every one wonders how she got stuck with someone so far below her standards. I sighed and held my breath on the way passed an obnoxiously large good luck symbol crafted out of obnoxiously large blossoms. The flowers my bride brought with her were all annoyingly strong smelling especially in the heat of the day.

They were all over the temple; in the hallways, in the dinning room, lining the aisle she would be walking down later in the day… and set up a huge pile right in front of the alter where I was meant to stand. This is how I would remember my wedding day: Almost passing out from the smell, then waking up from a heat and fume educed coma to find myself attached to some… girl.

Temari disturbed my mental griping by grabbing me firmly and turning me to face her. "You need to be down at the alter, NOW." I rolled my eyes.

"I still have 20 minutes." She shook her head. She seemed even more stressed the I was. She had been co-planning with my bride's sister to have the event be pulled off smoothly, with a blend of both cultures. This was difficult I was told (bitched to) because the Cloud sister was dead set on having the bride's dress being in the style of the Cloud village, and other girly things like that.

"You only have…" she looked at the time. " thirteen minuets left. Are you ready? Did you even try to brush your hair?" I let her drag me to the main hall just to keep her from becoming more annoying. I knew she was trying to help, but seriously. We stopped before entering the hall. "Are you ok?" She asked finally. "No." I said flatly. "But I guess will be." She gave me a quick hug. "You… look good. You will be fine. Your new wife is a lot nicer then her sisters."

"Wait you've met her?" Temari pinched my cheek in her annoying way and didn't say anything before going to take her place beside Gaara.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all for the views! Thank you VERY MUCH to those who faved, reviewed and put my story on alerts :) It means a lot to me and I hope I don't disappoint!

(More to come)

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I took my final calming breath of the day and walked down the aisle and stood in my place. From there on out I had to be all business. No room for nervousness in a war alliance. I looked out at the wedding guests in a blur as all my insecurities began creeping back. "Damn…" I said under my breath. I had almost calmed myself down.

Soon, music changed its pace and sent the room spinning. I couldn't tell if my heart was beating quickly or if it was just a dead lump in my chest. When my bride entered the hall everyone stood up. It seemed with every head she turned my stomach got tighter and tighter. She was wearing a traditional cream and white wedding dress from her village, and an elaborate gold head dress, tradition for mine. She wore a veil that covered most of her face. I had forgotten about the veil. Of course it would make sense that I would be forced to wait even longer for an answer.

I was too nervous to make out if I recognized any part of her. My eyes darted over and around her even though I tried hard to keep them steady. Were those marks on her face decoration for all Cloud Women, or were they freckles and a significant trait of my bride? I couldn't tell. When she came close I turned away, maybe a little too briskly. I worked hard to keep my worries internal by keeping my back straight and breathing level. The sweating palms would have to stop themselves. She had tried to make eye contact when she first was up next to me, I could tell, but I didn't look back. If I had, I would have lost it.

The rest of the ceremony was not important. The purifying, the vows and I dos, the nine cups of sake (It was good that the traditions gave something to take the edge off). Then my bride took my arm and we left the hall. People threw confetti and rice at our feet and over our heads as we passed. We walked past the clapping ushers and into the room set up for us to dress for the next event.

Once in, I barely dared to look at her. We stood just in the doorway without moving until someone closed the door behind us. We were both in a state where we needed time to break down all that had just went down. The sound of the latch snapped me back to my senses and I turned to face her, again, maybe a little too abruptly. She jumped slightly and I realized she was trembling. More silence. This woman standing in front of me was my wife. It was an odd thought that would come up many times throughout the rest of the night. I leveled my eyes with hers. It never occurred to me that she might be as nervous as I was. I was told she had been trained for this sort of thing before she even finished her ninja training. I let out a low breath and moved to remove her veil but she held onto my arm.

"Do you know my name?"

I tried keeping my nervous breathing to a dull roar. I felt like a dog on a chain. "Emma Yotsuki." I had to strain to remember even that.

She nodded and reached to remove her cover. "Emmalie, actually. But," She let the veil fall into her hand. "You can call me Emma. People do…" She looked down. I looked away. She was pretty. Just the amount to get people wondering what she was doing with a guy like me. Perfect. Her hair was brown, her eyes were amber I guess. Her skin was light like the sister Temari didn't like. The marks on her face were something unique. She squeezed my arm a little and let go.

"Do you recognize me?" She asked next.

"Should I?" Did I?

"Maybe not. We trained together Electricity and Puppet merging techniques. My dad made me wear a veil for that too though. I thought maybe…" She covered the bottom of her face so that only her eyes and a few marks showed. "No? Well thats ok." She was talking so fast now that my answers were lost. I didn't know whether to laugh or yell. "Wasn't it you who convinced me to go through with this in the first place?"

She smiled and blushed. I was surprised she looked me in the eye. "Yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

Flashback time! ;) Thank you all gain for your support!

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About a year ago, we began creating ties with the Cloud Village. It was two years after the war began, and our village's likelihood of being able to pull through alive was slim to none.

At the beginning Gaara and the Raikage were cooking up some new fighting technique that would combine electric and puppet fighting styles. This would help out attacks be more effective in battle against the Rock Village, and if it succeeded could be used for other minor battles as well.

They had me along with some other puppet style users and a few Cloud Villagers practice three times a week for about eight months. We worked on techniques where the electrical wielder used their energy to cover the puppet master, to let the Puppet Master be less vulnerable to attack. The defenses were hidden, and would paralyze anyone who came too near. Techniques where an electrical current would be shot through the puppet at or into the opponent were also invented; it also paralyzed the body, and sped up the effects of the poisons. It was all a lot more complicated then it looks when written out. I kept getting my ass crisped and my eye brows singed in the beginning. Another problem was it meant that a new type of puppet would have to be made; one with extra metal lining or core so that it would be able to carry a current. But It was a good excuse to start a new age of an ancient fighting style. Progress was fine in my opinion, even though the additional metal made the puppets heavier to carry.

The collaboration started pulling us ahead in the war, and my innocent mind thought that Gaara must have already payed whatever price was asked. When I was told other wise, I got angry. The Raikage was willing to make an alliance, but I was asked to marry one of this daughters to seal the deal. The Raikage said that he felt that it would create a stronger bond between the villages. I felt it was crazy, out of date and showed that he thought the only way to make sure he had us was to get me to wed and bed his daughter.

It took me awhile to decide, even though I knew an alliance meant that we would win the war. "No marriage means no alliance" became my reluctant motto.

My partner had been a girl about my age, wearing the same costume as the rest but with a veil covering the bottom of her face. I figured it was some strange custom of her village, and because she was the only girl I didn't think much about it. We talked between spars and I liked her well enough I guess but it didn't mean I knew all that much about her.

"I know what you are going through…" she had said to me one night. It was a night when I had been pretty much torn in every way possible. I had attended a funeral for one friend who had died in combat and a wedding, bachelor party and reception for another all in one week. When I asked how in the world could she know, she said "Well, Im friends with the daughter you are supposed marry, Emmalie Yotsuki. Shes not half bad. Shes been training for this sort of thing for forever… I think it would be worth giving it a try."

"You are friends with the Raikage's daughter." I had said doubtfully. "Whats she like then? Probably doesn't give a damn about any of this. Does she even know my name?"

"Of course she does!" She had said defensively. "She knows a lot more about you then you do of her, smart ass!" She reached up and played with her pony tail in an irritated way. I could feel the air between us crackling as I took a slow breath to get my cool back. The least I could do was fake it.

"Whats she… like?" I said, trying not to sound resentful. She started out a little sheepishly; probably embarrassed about calling me a smart ass. The skin around her eyes and forehead turned pink in a blush as she explained my bride to be's personality. I had been secretly interested, but as she went on, her speech got faster and faster until I couldn't understand a word she said. Even she lost track of what she was saying. She stopped, looked away and threw her hair back over her shoulder. I waited because there was nothing left to say. She had said everything for all I knew.

"Shes been _waiting_ for forever, and shes had a lot of time to think." She said more slowly. This stuff was meant to be heard. "She has come to terms with the fact that her fate was taken into another's hands, but she doesn't want to be given away to just anyone. I think she deserves that much. I know you haven't had enough time by far to think of this as a possibility…." She paused to judge what she said next. "…But she wants to be connected with someone she might have the possibility of if not falling in love with, then being able to bare." I had figured out where she was going with her explanation and it was my turn to look away. "And since I am her closest friend, I feel that she would love you. Or learn to like you at least… She would leave you alone if you wanted.. You might like her… and if not, then its just an alliance, right?"

I thanked her by not saying anything. This whole conversation didn't sit quite right on my nerves. It made me feel more then a little guilty. I hadn't thought about it from the bride's point of view and my partner had shown me _another _person that my decision effected.

I'd like to think my kindness got the better of me in the end, or whatever better half of me that decides to make me do the right thing. But I think I agreed partly out of curiosity too. I was never big on dating and marriage seemed like one big date that you couldn't get out of. Easily at least. It was a new experience and my 'date' wouldn't be able to run away even if she wanted to. I'll have to admit, the mysterious girl from the Cloud Village had aroused some interest on just the fact I had no Idea what to expect of her. It turned out that there were more things stacking against my anger and fear then backing it.

"What the hell." I thought as I shuffled to Gaara's office. "I might like her. She might like me. If not, then thats just… great."


End file.
